When Darkness Dawns
by Livewire and Heatstroke
Summary: There are two new additions to the X-Men family... An annoying (To Rogue) Southern boy named Rieley, and a girl with a past named Alanna... that's all you need to know now
1. When Lightning Strikes

        Another rainy night in the endless Hell that had become Alanna's life. Ever since the untimely death of her young father, only 31, and the arrest of her twin brother, she had been totally alone. She hated being alone more than anything. It made her feel hollow inside...

      She shivered under the worn raincoat. Living in the streets and various homeless shelters throughout the city for five years, new or even decent clothing was hard to come by. She hadn't given up on her appearance like some of the others had. She managed to shower every day by sneaking into the Y or the gym, her nails were neatly trimmed, her hair was brushed and trimmed regularly... She even had her bangs dyed red by a practicing beauty school student. It covered up the few grays she had received from watching Robin-Daddy... die in the streets. 

      She was stopped on the sidewalk across from the city jail. What a crooked system... To throw a minor in there with those horrible criminals. Gryffin wasn't a criminal... he was only shoplifting... wasn't he? She felt a tear in her eye. Sure, Gryffin had had his secret ways of making money... She knew better than to question him about them, but certainly nothing he had done was THAT bad... Was it? 

      She shook her head and sighed. No use worrying. She couldn't visit him anyway, it was too late.

      With a sigh, Alanna reached in her pocket. She had a dollar and a half. She HAD to do laundry... She could wait until tomorrow to eat. Maybe one of her friends at school would loan her some money, or even share their lunch. Her stomach growled loudly in sorrow. Another empty night.

      Picking up the small bag she had laid on the sidewalk, She continued on down the street to the small Coin Laundry that would be nearly empty this time of night. Who knows, maybe she'd have enough money left to buy a soda? She didn't get her hopes up.

      Alanna came to the gate of the city park. She hadn't set foot here since Daddy had died. They were on their way to play. He had actually had a day off, and wanted to spend it with her. Gryffin had said he'd catch up with them, so they walked together. The day was warm, the sky was so blue! She could still smell the pretzels from the vendors on the corners, hears the birds chirping... It had been such a beautiful day, and she remembered it so clearly. But, clearest of all was the sight of Daddy's blood red on the hood of the car. The car had been white... His blood was so red against it... 

      She felt her knees trembling. She felt drawn to go into the park. Maybe she needed closure? She wasn't sure what kind of closure she'd GET, but she felt the bag of laundry slip from her grasp. The gates weren't closed; it was legal to walk through the park at night, though it wasn't exactly SAFE. Tonight, though, it was far too rainy to have the gangs out. Even they stayed inside when it rained.

      Alanna drifted towards the center of the park, towards the iron statue of the city's founder on horseback. He looked nobler then he deserved to look. Her eyes landed on a bench. Not just any bench. The bench she and Gryffin had ALWAYS sat upon. Daddy, too, when he could be spared. They would laugh and play make-believe and just be together for hours.

      She turned away and felt herself slip in the mud and landed on her face. It hurt, but that wasn't what caused the sudden flow of tears. She knelt in the mud and sobbed her heart out. 

      "Daddy!" She cried out, her voice childish and lost in the rain. "Daddy, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I made you die! Gryffin, I'm sorry I made you go to jail! If Daddy hadn't been trying to save me, he wouldn't have died and you wouldn't have gotten in trouble..." She bit her lip and tried to hold back a sob. "Daddy! Gryffin! DADDY!"

      Lightning lit up the sky with a deep boom accompanying it. The thunder was so close to the lightning, the storm had to have been in the city.

      "DADDY! GRYFFIN!" She screamed, her heart breaking all over again. Again, a flash of lightning. 

      Alanna noticed a strange feeling in the air. Her hair was static, the hair on the back of her neck was standing up, a strange, fuzzy feeling filled the air. She glanced down at her hands and nearly died. Sparks were fizzing and popping from her fingertips! 

      "Have I been struck?" She gasped.

      "Hey, you! Get moving!" A police officer yelled from the shadows. She saw him brandishing a nightstick... The police in this town were unafraid to use them on the homeless. Alanna held up her hands as if to say she was unarmed and harmless, however, it appeared she WAS armed. Blinding bolts of lightning shot from her hands and hit the officer in the chest. Alanna screamed in horror as the man fell. She was suddenly aware of other homeless people that had been in the park. There were witnesses, and she was in trouble.

      Not knowing if the man was dead or alive, she fled the park. She couldn't be caught, they'd probably put her to death! But then, as she ran, she began to wonder... What the Hell had just happened?

      "Oh God, I've turned into some kind of death ray!" She moaned. Ducking into a dark alley after running close to a mile, she curled up under a fire escape and sat there, shaking, wondering what was going on.

***

      "Storm," Dr. Charles Xavier removed his headpiece.

      "Yes, Charles?" Ororo came up behind him and placed her hand on the back of his wheelchair.

      "Please tell Logan to ready the Blackbird. Cerebro's made a discovery."

******


	2. A New Home A New Life

      "Scott, Jean, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family." Professor Xavier gestured to the girl standing behind his wheelchair, her face hidden in shadow.

      "Hello, I'm Jean Grey, it's nice to meet you." Jean offered her hand.

      The girl stared at it for a moment, as if unsure of what to do, then she slowly extended her hand to shake Jean's.

      Scott and Jean peered into the rather gaunt face of a young girl who's age was difficult to place. She had large light grey eyes, long black hair, and skin that looked paper-thin. Something almost exoctic lurked about her face, but the eyes made it hard to tell.

      "Her name is Alanna Smythe. She is 16 years old and comes from Vermont. Alanna, Jean and Scott are Freshmen in college, but come here frequently to help out with new mutants such as yourself." Xavier smiled.

      "What did you call me?" Alanna asked, frowning

      "A mutant... We're all mutants here. My power is mind-reading and telekinetics." Jean said pleasently.

      "My power is located in my eyes. Without these sunglasses, if I looked at you, you'd be fried." Scott laughed.

      "That's... pleasent." Alanna raised an eyebrow.

      "Err, what's your power, Alanna?" Jean smiled nervously.

      "Power..." Alanna shook her head. "All I know is I fried some guy just by putting my hands up."

      "Well, Alanna, that's why you're here. We're going to help you learn to control that power inside you." Professor Xavier explained. "We've enrolled you in Bayville High. Opening term starts next week. For now you can spend your free time getting accustomed to this place. No doubt it's different from Vermont."

      "Very different..." Alanna nodded.

      "Well, since Kitty and Rogue have very irresponsibly missed this meeting, you will have to be assigned someone else to take care of you." Xavier rubbed his chin.

      "Well, Scott and I have orientation, so we're out, Kitty and Rogue are MIA, Evan is... troubled right now... Most of the kids have no clue what's going on here anyway... That leaves Kurt-"

      With a poof of smoke, a boy appeared in front of Jean, a doughnut hanging out of his mouth. "'Ou wang?" He muttered around his full mouth.

      "Kurt, we need you to show our new student around the mansion and around town." Scott told the boy.

      With a tremendous swallow, Kurt flipped long, dark bangs out of his eyes and saw Alanna for the first time.

      "Hello, I'm Kurt Vaughner. Vat's your name?" His thick German accent made Alanna's lip curl in the semblance of a smile.

      "Alanna Smythe." She said quietly.

      "You don't look like you're from around here. I'm from Germany myself." Kurt patted his pockets and removed another doughnut.

      "Err, I'm from Vermont. Near Lake Champlain. Nothing special here."

      "Doesn't matter... Come on, I'll show you the school." He took her hand, winked, and suddenly, Alanna found herself standing outside a large high school building. "Well, THAT sure beats walking..." She muttered.      She noticed something peculiar about Kurt's hand, but instead, focused her attention on the building. "Nice. Makes my old school like a tenement."

      "Vat?" Kurt looked really cute when he was puzzled!

      "It was just really crappy, that's all."

      "Oh, I see. Vat year are you in?"

      "Junior..." Alanna kicked a tiny pebble stared up at the intimidating windows.

      "At first, you should try to keep it quiet that you are a mutant... The people here don't take kindly to us.." Kurt jammed his hands into his pockets uncomfortably.

      "Why not?"

      "Cause they're afraid. Vy else?" He wiped his forehead, then observed Alanna's baggy black long sleeved shirt and jeans. "Aren't you hot?" He asked incredulously. He couldn't help but notice her clothes fit poorly.

      She turned away and discreetly wiped her face. "Err... No."

      "Oh vell. Hungry? I'm starving! I haven't eaten in--"

      "Five minutes?" Alanna asked.

      "Err, vell, four... But are you?" He noted Alanna's thin face and thought quietly to himself. He didn't imagine she had the opportunity to eat often.

      "Um, yeah." She said quietly as her stomach rumbled.

      "Are you normally so quiet or are you just shy?" Kurt asked, leaning against a lamppost.

      "Um, Idunno." She shrugged.

      "Ah, vell, it's OK. Let's get pizza!" He grabbed her hand and hauled her off down the street.

***

      "Rogue," Kitty whispered. "Do you have the feeling that we were supposed to be somewhere?"

      "Nah." Rogue hissed back. "Shut up and watch the movie."

***

      Lance hovered his slice of pizza over his mouth and let the cheese slide off. He swallowed it without chewing and crammed the rest in.

      Pietro rolled his eyes. "You're getting like Blob."

      "What's that mean?" Blob grunted as he devored an entire pizza.

      "Mean's you're a pig and so's Lance." Toad said, neglecting his slice and opting to rid the pizza parlor of flies.

      The door opened and the Brothers looked over to see Nightcrawler walk in with a strange-looking girl.

      "Hey, hey, hey! What's this! Has Fuzzball finally given up his pursuit of Pretty-Kitty for this... misfit?"

      "Who're they?" The girl sized Lance up disdainfully.

      "The Brothers... Ignore them." Kurt pulled her away.

      "Are they mutant-haters or something?" She asked.

      "No, they're mutants too... Just what you'd call our..."

      "Dark side?" Alanna glanced over at the rest of Lance's crowd.

      "Only if you want us to be, Missy." Lance put his hand on her arm.

      "Back off, Lance!"

      "Oh, and what're YOU gonna do about it, elfy? Shed on me?" Lance laughed.

      "Ooh, that hurt!" Kurt rolled his eyes. "Come on Alanna, let's sit over here."

      Alanna followed Kurt away from the sneering boys and frowned. Was this what she had to look forward to? No one had said anything about bad guys... What was she getting herself into?

******


End file.
